Page 88 of Hooked on a Witch
Owen acted as if he hadn’t heard him as he stared moon-eyed at Anaïs.
Anaïs reached out with her talonlike, blue-painted nails and touched Owen’s square jaw. “We’re in love.”
“Uh-huh,” Merck grumbled sarcastically. “More like spellbound or bewitched. Why did you kill the Pleiades goddesses?”
Anaïs smiled broadly. “Their souls have made me invincible. I can wield the power of the Trident now.”
“Why those particular goddesses?”
“Rick wanted them dead. I needed their power. Win win for all of us, even if Rick got killed. Win win for me, I guess.” She grinned. “Get it out of her.”
Shannon released an almost silent moan. The small noise tore through him, killed him. “All right. I do believe in something.”
Shannon whispered, “Don’t. They can’t have it.”
“Sometimes, you’ve got to believe. I’m going to see if I can get the Trident from you. Totally not sure on how to do this. You think you can lie on your back, or does it hurt too much?”
“Will side work?” She rolled to her side, facing him.
He yanked his knife off his belt and cut a hole in her dress over the scarred area.
“Are you going to cut it out of me?” Horror passed over her face.
“No.”
“Okay. I trust you. I do.” Her eyes settled into a faith he hoped he’d deserve. He didn’t know what the hell he was doing, but he was going to try. He cut a small window in her dress and held his hand over the scarred area. Closing his eyes helped him sense the power lodged within her. He detected the ocean and all that was marine in its most organic and primal sense churning beneath her skin.
Come to me,he silently commanded. A strength he’d never before experienced fueled him with energy. His hands closed around something solid. He gasped as his body charged, not with discomfort, but with a vigor that was tempting and intoxicating. When he opened his eyes, he held the Trident. He almost dropped it out of shock. The golden symbol for rule of the ocean was in his hand. It didn’t burn him as he’d expected it would with anyone not Poseidon. It accepted him. It tempted him with a boundless power of rule.
It also wasn’t impressive for something considered to be so powerful. Three barbed tines on the end of a metal pole. The metal didn’t even look like real gold. The thing just looked like a boring fishing tool.
“You can’t give it to her,” Shannon said, breaking through his fixation on the weapon. “Please, give it back to him.”
“You’ll die,” he said softly.
“This isn’t about me. It’s about people who shouldn’t die for something they had nothing to do with. Worthy people. People I love.”
How he loved this woman.
“Give it to me!” Anaïs screamed. She charged toward the dock, but waves picked up as the ocean churned, casting over the dock both in front of and behind Merck and Shannon, hindering Anaïs’s trajectory.
“This is about a lot more than either of us or the necromancer.” He kissed the inside of Shannon’s hand. For years, he’d been fighting for free will. He’d fought for a choice in his future. Now he realized he’d never had a choice.
Fuck free will. He’d believe in destiny. His destiny was about this brave woman who’d die for those she loved. It was about protecting her bloodline and that of the other Pleiades descendants. No matter how much this might hurt in the short-term, fully expecting to lose her to death or be cast out of this life when judged, love had to endure. Maybe in another lifetime he’d find her. Maybe in his next life as the Enforcer he’d remember her. Love was infinite. It could sustain. He would remember. “There’s only one way for you to live.”
He stood and held the Trident as if he meant to toss it to Anaïs. Shannon gasped. He gazed down and winked at her. With a pivot, he cast the Trident toward the water. His eldest dolphin friend jumped from the water and caught it.
“Return it,” he ordered the dolphin. Merck knelt beside Shannon and reached one hand toward the water, praying it could heal her. The water ran up his arm and onto her, around her lesions. Nothing. The darkness was still on her skin. He tried again.
“I can’t do it, baby. I can’t heal this poison. It’s powerful enough to kill a god. She used it to kill all seven of the Pleiades goddesses.” Even he heard the panic in his tone.
“Thank you. As you said, this isn’t about us.”
He smoothed hair away from her face and kissed her briefly.
With a frown, her eyes moved away from his to stare at the churning sea. “What’s happening?”
The sky darkened and the water pounded the dock, angry or perhaps excited. He couldn’t read the ocean’s mood, which was rare. Overhead, dark clouds gathered. Slivers of light peeked around the clouds, glittering furiously. Water sloshed against the dock, growing in height with each new wave. From the water rose a gigantic man with long white hair, grasping the Trident. Vicious blue eyes skimmed over Merck and Shannon.
